Tell me, has this ever really meant anything? We continue to point to the departure of the few games we choose to label hallmarks of this supposed genre, but did we ever know what it meant in the first place? Let's break it down. The 'horror' part is the less important one here, meaning basically that the game has you fighting monsters of some sort. Something that is supposed to be scary and strangely difficult to take down. Please notice that I said the monsters are meant to be scary, not the game. For the love of God people, these games are NOT meant to be scary. Being "scary" really has nothing to do with it. If that's what you want then look elsewhere. Start with Amnesia and work your way backwards.

In any case, let's move on to the 'survival' part. This part is by far a lot more important, and really it just means you have limited resources, that sometimes you have to run from a fight. The catch is that limited resources don't really mean much without also having a limited inventory forced upon you. If you can carry 6 guns and full ammo with you at all times then nothing will stand in your way. Resident Evil was not a survival game because it had zombies in it, and also not because ammo and health was so scarce. No, it was a survival game because health and key items would take up half of your extremely limited inventory, and you would only have space to take a single weapon and a few clips with you at best. Survival means resource management. A good player can ration his resources, but the game still becomes more difficult if he can't carry everything with him.

Let's look at something like Dead Space. Here was a game that let you move while shooting, and even let you run side to side with ease (and now you can roll too). Did this freedom of movement make this any less a game about survival? Not at all; it just made it less frustrating. Dead Space undoubtedly got the horror part down, providing some of the most interesting monsters I have ever come across. Even though your resources were far from limited, the limited inventory and different carrying capacities for each type of ammo still made you think twice about what to take with you. Frankly there is absolutely no way one could claim this was not a survival game as well, what with your weapons actually being just re-purposed mining tools and the enemies forcing you to stay calm and accurately place your shots under pressure. The Necromorphs are by far the biggest triumph of Dead Space, their 'shoot the limbs' mentality providing the game's biggest draw.

At this point I'm not sure we really still have a clear (or even somewhat murky) definition of what survival horror is supposed to mean. So let's simplify it. It seems to be that so long as you have an inventory, enemies that require strategy beyond "shoot them in the face", and the inability to shoot from the hip then you have survival horror. That truly is the only thing that still sets apart this supposed genre from any other third person shooter, the fact that you must aim your weapon before you can fire it. That is the last vestige of this genre we once called survival horror, and something not even Dead Space 3 would give up.

Speaking of Dead Space 3, I have a burning question- what the hell happened? What happened to re-purposing tools into weapons? Now you stroll into battle with a combination assault rifle and shotgun, making you feel as powerful as Marcus Fenix in a Crysis nanosuit. What happened to the enemies that require strategic shots to take down? The Necromorphs are more interesting than ever, but an overabundance of ammo means it is also easier than ever to take them down by simply pumping them full of lead. Not to mention that half your enemies are now simply other humans. The most egregious thing they did though, the single thing that completely shatters whatever survival horror façade this series was hoping to cling onto, was to provide a unified ammo source.

That's right, they pulled a Resident Evil 6 and made the limited inventory, and consequently any idea of resource management, pointless. Sure you inventory is limited in fact, but it sure doesn't feel that way when you can carry 20 entire ammo clips in one slot, ammo that can fill any and all weapons. Dead Space 2 may have had more monsters, but it didn't let you build your own super weapons. You still had to think twice about using your most powerful weapons, as ammo for them was incredibly scarce and carrying it would quickly fill every slot in your inventory. Now what of Dead Space 3? Even the much-lauded weapon crafting is kind of pointless in the end, since a single ammo source for everything means that you can always just use your most powerful gun at all times.

You don't even have to think about it anymore, you don't have to worry about wasting resources. No more resource management means no more survival. Not even your typical military shooter would make the mistake of letting you re-purpose all ammo and thus use your favorite gun 100% of the time.

Dead Space 3 is still an incredible game and absolutely worth playing. Just make sure you go in with your expectations in check. After fighting his way through 2 entire games, Isaac is clearly done with just surviving. I think we would have received this game much better if it had been labeled a side story, Dead Space: Isaac's Rampage. The fact remains though that the game still has by far one of the most interesting settings to ever grace gaming, an atmosphere that few others could hope to match. And the enemies are still fantastically unique, still requiring some thought and sense to take down. To be perfectly honest, I would not mind if the entire game was just one long corridor of Necromorphs, much like that train tunnel section in the last game. They are just that much fun to fight.

Throw in the co-op hallucinations craziness, the side missions, and the new resource management (albeit one that exists only to force you into microtransactions) and this is undoubtedly a great game. But take out the Necromorphs and Isaac's facemask and it would no longer bear any resemblance to what Dead Space used to be. Is this an evolution? It seems we'll have to let history decide. If this is truly the wrong direction for this series, then it will stop selling, right? Right? Perhaps it is still a great game on its own, regardless of whether or not it has supposedly abandoned its roots. Check you expectations at the door, let this be "a great action game with unique weapons and monsters" and not "a sub-par Dead Space game." Join with me and stop fooling yourself into thinking this series was ever about horror.

Oh and one more thing. The new bad guy is voiced by none other than Simon Templeman, Kain himself and arguably the best voice actor in gaming. If I wasn't already excited, that alone could have been enough to make me pick up the game, even knowing the story is crap. It's the little things that matter, you know? As long as Dead Space: Isaac's Rampage continues to bring the phenomenal combat the series is known for, then it is worth playing. As long as the gameplay is fun, it is worth playing. Forget everything else and just enjoy another fantastic game. If you really can't accept it for the great game it is simply because it fails to meet your expectations of what it is supposed to be, then I guess you are just the kind of person who is disappointed with everything.

Michael Taylor is a struggling lawyer who insists on never giving up his love for games. He has been writing about them for five years now, making it his mission to challenge every longstanding and pervasive opinion within the industry. You can check him out on Facebook, and he is always available for chatting through Skype (search for atobe-sama).